Environmental Law Institute - National Wetlands Awards

As Champion International Corporation’s Northeast Region Wildlife Biologist, Gary Donovan leads the management of cultural and natural resources associated with the 1.3 million acres of Champion land in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. His riparian strategy to restore and protect water quality, fish and wildlife, and ecological functions exceeds current regulations and utilizes variable buffer widths keyed to stream size and geomorphic characteristics. The strategy is an excellent example of forest wetland stewardship within a working commercial forest. It was reviewed and endorsed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, researchers at the University of Maine, fish and wildlife biologists of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, forest ecologists at the White Mountain National Forest, and leaders of conservation groups.

The former director of wildlife for Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Gary continues his professional ties to the region’s state agencies and local conservation groups. He has been the driving force behind Project SHARE (Salmon Habitat and River Enhancement), a voluntary cooperative project started in 1994 and involving state and federal agencies, local businesses, conservation groups, private landowners, and academic institutions, all working for the conservation of Atlantic salmon in the downeast rivers of Maine. Project SHARE has received numerous awards including a recent Chevron Conservation Award.

— James M. Sweeney, Champion International Corporation, Washington, DC